I have many favorite verses, but I think the one that is the most ominous, the most profound, is Genesis 1:1:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
It’s not the act of creation I find so compelling but the clear implication that in the beginning, nothing existed but God. Nothing! And if nothing existed but God, then it has to be a fact that nothing that does exist, exists outside of God. That means the earth, moon, rocks . . . you name it, and specifically all forms of man whether good or evil. Even the Devil has no existence outside of God. God made him. Everything both visible and invisible is in its essence a manifestation of the One Spirit, the One Person in the universe, whether positive or negative.
Since God is Spirit, He has no form or expression in His essence. He must express Himself. His first act, as far as we know, is the creation of the heavens and the earth. This He does through His Word, which dwelt with Him before the world was (John 17:5). He spoke it into existence through His Word and made it happen through His Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep (Gen 1:2). We know that the three, the so-called Trinity, are one Person. For an in-depth perspective of how the three offices of God are necessary to form a single person read my article Dividing Asunder Between Soul and Spirit.
But the one ominous thing to note is that in the beginning, only one Person existed. And that is God. Therefore, it can be clearly concluded that that is still true–only One Person still exists in the universe . . . God. Consider the Law of Conservation of Mass –Energy, amended by Einstein, but authored by none other than God. It states that the sum total of the two must remain constant. You can convert one to the other but you can’t take away or add. That simply means that all things, visible or invisible, were created out of Himself, the only self-existent Person and the only existence-period- in the universe.
And if that is true, all of us, believers and non-believers, find that we are nothing more than a manifestation, a unique expression or form of God. Acts 17:28 For
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
So what does it really mean to us? For one thing, the concept of being independent persons, separate and distinct from God, was just debunked. That is an illusion, a delusion propagated by Satan himself who actually believes he can work independently and in opposition to God and replace Him. “I will ascend on high,” he said.
It means that we, who are in Christ, are one with God and one with each other. It means that those who oppose God are still in God, albeit in a negative form, blinded to the truth, separated only by their unbelief. You cannot take away.
To those who believe, this should bring more meaning to Galatians 2:20:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
I live, yet not I. Think about it. It further illuminates the truth about the mystery which is Christ in us (Col 1:27). It’s more than just He “in” us. He manifests Himself “as” us in the many forms that we see. We are the Branch. He is the Vine. We are immutably joined to, one with, and manifesting Him on earth. Amen.
